Firefighters in the East Bay are getting prepared to respond to any calls for service during the Fourth of July holiday.

It is, unfortunately, a busy time for fire crews. On Tuesday, KRON4 attended a live fire training session and shows you the damage common fireworks can cause.

The big flames burning at the session were caused by lighting one of the small sparklers.

“The fires that can result from that are from what are perceived as the safest fireworks, and we will show you how those safe fireworks can create problems,” Contra Costa Fire Protection District Cpt. George Laing said.

This demonstration is part of the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District’s annual live wildfire training exercise in Antioch.

“We do this every year. It is part of our readiness training, especially for our new firefighters,” Cpt. David Woods said. “We’ve got a lot of new less experienced people coming into the fire service. It is real world training for them before we get out…on real stuff.”

It is no coincidence that the live fire training happens the week before the Fourth of July holiday.

“In Contra Costa County, it is important to note that all fireworks are illegal,” Laing said. “There are no safe and sane fireworks. However, citizens in Contra Costa County do bring in illegal fireworks and the fireworks create literally hundreds of fires in the weeks before and the weeks that follow the Fourth of July, and on the Fourth of July, it I the worst.”

It took only a matter of seconds for a common sparkler to start this blaze in what is not the worse fire conditions.

“The air temperature is just in the mid-70s right now,” Laing said. “If it was 100 degrees, relative humidity in the single digits, and if the wind speed was 30 miles per hour, we would have a different issue.”

The fire protection district encourages anyone who wants to experience fireworks on the 4th of July to do it at one of the official fireworks displays regulated by Contra Costa fire in cities throughout the county.

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